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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Mama of a Sleepless Bean

I've always thought that I was very fortunate as a first time mom because Alexa has been a pretty awesome sleeper from day one. Did she wake up every 2-3 hours for the first six weeks? Yes, but she also always slept really well during down time whether it was day or night. She slept in the stroller, in her crib, on us, with us, pretty much anywhere. Right around 4 months old she decided that she only wanted to sleep in her crib. At first it made it a little bit difficult to get household chores done and to run errands, but once I figured out her new schedule it worked. And who's going to complain because their baby likes to sleep in their crib?! Not me! Right now though, we are dealing with sleep regression hell.

Since the 4 month sleep change she really hasn't liked napping in the car, her stroller or any bed that is not her own. When we went on vacation to Poland we found out how serious she was about her crib and her crib only. Okay, she doesn't sleep on vacation, but she was happy and social all day long...we just suffered from sleepless nights!

Now we are on to what the professionals call the 8 month sleep regression. It is hell. Ever since we went to Germany Alexa has not slept through the night. (Through the night for us means only waking up once in the middle of the night) Not sleeping in Germany was not a big deal. I knew what to expect ahead of time and so we just went with the flow. Almost 6 weeks later though and it has gotten real old. Bedtime has become a nightmare, a horror and my most hated time of the day. Bedtime lasts anywhere from 2-4 hours. It is a screaming, crying, rocking, singing, strolling, crying (me this time) horror. We have tried letting her cry it out. We have tried rocking her to sleeping, nursing her to sleep, singing her to sleep, walking her around the apartment, taking her for walks in the stroller (inside and outside), books, baths, chamomile tea, movies, co-sleeping...we have tried it all (unless you can think of something else then please do tell!). I just want my gorgeous sleeping girl back. She is happy by day and miserable by night. She is teething, has learned to sit up, crawl, and stand up. Her mind must be going a mile a minute, but there NEEDS to be a pause button! She needs sleep to continuing growing and learning cool new things and I need sleep before I lose my mind.

I have found an ebook that I am going to read with tips on helping your little one sleep. I am hoping, praying and wishing that it has something insightful in it. This mama is seriously beat.